Child of the Lotus
by KitsiChan
Summary: A young, emotionally scarred Tenno suddenly finds their whole world turned upside down and their beliefs tested in the wake of a sudden turnabout that could upset the balance of the Origin System. Spoilers through Chimera.


Disclaimer: Warframe is the intellectual property of Digital Extremes, I own nothing but my characters.

I would like to thank my numerous collaborators who helped me with actually getting this out in words and lent me their Tenno.

**WispyTangyFoxhunt **(Ao3); thank you for helping me create Jossa and your wonderful insight on the infestation. Oh, and your editing.

**Dairegh**; thanks for Ramiel, including some of his actions and dialogue, letting me idea bounce off you, and your editing. Check out his Warframe/Mass Effect crossover Step Unto the Void for Ram's future adventures.

**Soleneus**; Thank you for sending me Aman Sul, actions, dialogue, and for your wonderful editing skills. Everyone should definitely check out his stories, my favorite is An Empire of Dragons but there's many more to choose from.

**IzKira **(discord); thank you for checking through even though you have never played Warframe and everything you know was explained via me and WTF.

This entire story is only canon up to The Jovian Concord, anything taking place after in game will either be addressed in later stories or omitted. So Arlo, and everything to do with The Old Blood are not yet known or not yet created. I have already created a plan and layout for the way the entire story will end up so there will be a lot of canon deviation, please keep that in mind. Such things are inevitable when working with a source fandom that is still incomplete.

Now for the final heads up; the main character of this story, Kitya, uses gender neutral pronouns as they are part of a specific Tenno mindset that sees themselves as little more than souls for the Warframe. The only gendered terms they use are _sister_ and _daughter_.

_The halls of the education wing of the Zariman were dark and cold, the lights spastically flickering as if haunted. Their head throbbed as they hurried alone down the hall, leaving a bloodied handprint here and there whenever they stumbled. They glanced behind them, making sure he hadn't gotten any closer since they last looked._

"_Kitya… Kitya… where are you?"_

_They could hear his voice coming down the hallway and darted into the nearest classroom._

"_Now Kityani, this is no time to be playing hide and seek with your father." His voice was closer, and they could hear his footsteps._

_Pain suddenly seared through their right temple and they cried out. The footsteps stopped before they started to move at a more rapid pace towards the room they hid in._

"_Did you hurt yourself?" he asked in mock concern, "Papa will make it better Little One." _

_The door slammed open, they curled into a ball inside the small storage chest, the pain so bad their ears were ringing. _

_They could hear him moving closer and held their breath as he drew near…_

They awoke with a scream, releasing from their somatic pod onto the cold floor of their orbiter. Blood dripped from their lips and they almost slipped from the wetness of their bloody palms.

"-YA! KITYA! KITYA!" They were finally able to make out the voice of their cephalon, Fenras, over the laughter echoing in their ears, "You're BLEEDING again!"

Kitya managed to shake off the rest of The Man's merciless mirth as they wiped the sticky blood onto their inner suit. They licked the blood off of their lips before speaking, voice hoarse, "Contact Mother…"

"Of course, contacting The Lotus…"

After a minute of silence, a soft melody started to play in the chamber.

"The Lotus is unreachable at this time," chimed the cephalon in a soothing voice, "I have initiated Lullaby Protocol as I continue to attempt contact."

"Thank you Fenras…" they slowly made their way out of the chamber and into the small bathroom to inspect the extent of the damage and clean up.

A pallid, bloody face greeted them in the mirror, the bright aqua eyes darkened by shadows.

_Such a pretty little girl all covered in blood._

Kitya shook away the thought that was not theirs before turning on the tap and rinsing away the worst of the blood, carmine ribbons spinning about the drain. They focused on the soft music as they inspected their hands first; small, already healing crescents further marked their scarred palms. They sighed before looking back in the mirror to inspect the rest of the damage there.

Thankfully there were no external holes this time, even though their lip ached like it did when it they bit through. They felt around with their tongue, wincing when they felt the extent of the damage. They had bitten through a good chunk of cheek and lip, it would heal on its own if left alone, but would probably be sore for a while.

They moved inspection to their aching left temple, brushing their messy, flyaway strawberry blonde hair out of the way and ignoring the dark void scarring to focus on the cognitive relay implant; nothing seemed knocked loose, all the lights were on, and the pain was fading some…

"Little One?" Kitya jumped at the sound of Fenras' voice, "I still cannot reach The Lotus, but Jossa answered the alert and is on-screen in your quarters." They nodded and shuffled quietly to their quarters.

A large missile of pure white fur slammed against them as soon as the port opened.

"Lumina!" they futilely pushed at the gigantic albino kubrow attempting to knock them over, "Off!"

"She's been scratching and whining since I got in video."

Kitya rubbed at the kubrow's shoulders as they rounded the fish tank and slumped down on the narrow couch, Lumina padding along behind them to take up residence at their feet.

The usual window looking out at the stars was covered by a video hologram, the figure blurred and distorted except for the glow of their eyes. Something about Jossa corrupted camera images, making him little more than a fuzzy humanoid shadow, but it unfortunately only occurred when he was in his true form.

"Was it the Zanuka Project, or Rell this time?" he asked with concern.

Kitya shuddered and pulled the nearby kuaka floof into their arms, burying their face in its softness. The Zanuka Project had been one their nightmares; awoken to torture in the form of countless cruel experiments and vivisections to figure out what made a Warframe tick. Kitya and Gersemi, now known as Valkyr, had been locked in that living hell for months until Aman Sul and Ramiel had finally liberated them. Neither Tenno nor frame would ever forget what it was like to be flayed alive, to have their nerves laid bare and their muscles stripped from them. The fact that the Corpus who had done this to them still lived despite Kitya's multiple attempts to assassinate him once and for all, haunted them.

Rell meanwhile, had been Kitya's beloved older cousin. They had been separated first during the Zariman incident and then once again during the Orokin era. Kitya had always hoped to find him again but had never expected to have to liberate him from centuries of torment, bound to his own Warframe in the void.

Kitya had returned to Iron Wake and Palladino after destroying the Warframe that had housed Rell's spirit to claim their fallen cousin's last possession before severing all ties with The Red Veil. The syndicate attempted to contact them every once in a while but were always ignored. Last month an assassination squad of infested chargers had been released on Kitya. Needless to say, the syndicate didn't take kindly to deserters, especially those that knew their secrets.

Kitya shook their head. "No… It was from back then…"

Their mother's blood, the seeking, grabbing hands of their father gone mad, a searing, burning pain…

The glowing eyes winked out of existence for a moment, "Ah… nightmares from the Zariman then?"

They nodded. The Tenno didn't talk about The Incident, at least, not of the personal details. It was an unspoken code; no one asked, no one shared, and no one wanted to listen for fear they would remember. Jossa was one of the few who didn't follow that code, claiming most had been through worse since, but he had given up attempts to convince others to talk.

The eyes opened back up, "I don't know what you went through when we were separated, but we made it through, it's over. We've been through shit but we always come out on top, don't forget that."

Kitya nodded, Jossa wasn't known to be sentimental but they appreciated the effort.

Jossa's blurry shadow form rubbed at his head, "I'm guessing the silence isn't just on my end? I haven't received an in person message in at least a week now."

The change in subject wasn't unexpected.

"No," they shook their head, "I haven't, that's why Fenras sent out the alert."

"Strange…" he let out a long sigh, "you're one of her favorites so usually she responds to your calls immediately."

"Kitya, Ramiel has responded, sending him into the conference now."

Jossa's image shifted as a second video feed started. An older teen with long, dark hair striped with silver appeared, his green and silver eyes were full of sorrow.

"Kitya, Jossa…" he nodded to both of them, "how close are you to Earth?"

Jossa answered for the both of them. "It would take a while, I'm still orbiting Eris," the loner was known for his obsession with Eris and its sole occupants, and was most often found there.

On the other hand, Kitya spent a lot of time around Venus and Jupiter. They had mentioned on a few occasions that Fortuna reminded them of 'home' and they 'had a feeling' that Alad V, Corpus mad scientist, would be reappearing sometime soon.

"Kitya, send me your current coordinates, I'll be there in an hour or so, Sul has troubling news."

Kitya narrowed their eyes, "What's going on, Ram?" They had a dark feeling coiling in their gut; something was wrong, something was _very_ wrong.

"I'll explain everything when we all get on board Kitya, I promise. And Jossa, please meet us here as soon as you can."

"Alright, I'll wait. Fenras, send coordinates to Cephalons Ordis, Jadis, and Bori."

"Of course, Little One."

Ramiel made a face of displeasure upon hearing the endearing terms Fenras used for Kitya, finding the cephalon too coddling like usual.

"Kitya is just a single rail jump away Ramiel," chimed Ordis, "tHe BRat'S BaBYSitTeR- Cephalon Fenras has transmitted the coordinates."

"I'll see you in about an hour Kitya," Ramiel cut off transmission.

Upon receiving the coordinates the blurred shadow that made up the form of Jossa nodded before ending his own transmission.

Ramiel tapped Sul on the shoulder as he left his landing craft; "Remember, say nothing until Jossa arrives, you know exactly how reactive Kitya can be."

"Aye," Sul muttered, his eyes red and his skin pale as he scratched his chin, "This is no news I want to share twice."

"That's exactly why you're leaving the distribution of this to all the other Tenno up to me," Ramiel reminded him, fingers tapping against his thigh in agitation, "now let's take care of our sister so I can get the messier part over with."

"Ram! Sul!" said Tenno appeared out of nowhere and launched themselves into Sul for a hug, the larger Tenno spinning them around with a happy chuckle. "What's happened? Has he been sighted?" Something was off with Sul, his room filling cheerful personality somewhat subdued.

Kitya paused in their interrogation as they watched an ornate Excalibur, colored black with crests of gold on the head, arms and legs, along with an ironically simple scarf emerge from Sul's landing craft. A hand rested on the hilt of an equally ornate nikana, its head slowly taking in the area before it looked to them.

"Who is that? I've never seen that design before, is it a custom?"

"Oh no," Sul smiled, a light coming to his eyes as he reached out and grasped the frame by the shoulder like a proud parent, "This…is Excalibur _Umbra_. As far as I can tell, he's the _very first_ Excalibur ever created, and he's more unique besides. He's _sapient._ Say hello, Umbra. These are some of my dearest friends."

Kitya cocked their head to the side like a curious kubrow, as if looking at the warframe from another angle would reveal all his secrets, though it didn't. "So he has no need for an operator?"

"He can act on his own, though… Our true potential was unlocked when we acted as one," yawned Sul, slumping slightly as he scrubbed his face with the back of his hand. The Excalibur laid a gentle hand on his back and patted him, slowly as if the gesture was unfamiliar, before dropping it.

Umbra looked down at the young Tenno who was staring up at him. The child looked so small and young compared to Aman Sul. He reached out to touch their head but they flinched away.

"No!"

"Easy with the touching of Kitya's space, Umbra," Sul warned gently, patting the 'frames' arm, "They don't like being touched by strangers, but that's a problem with an easy solution. We see each other so often you'll be friends in no time!"

Umbra withdrew his hand and went back to just watching them, hand on sword in case he was needed. Kitya eyed the 'frame warily for a moment before relaxing. Being touched unexpectedly by unknown people brought about bad sensations and fear.

Sul tried to stifle another yawn but failed, the adrenaline and determination that had kept him going for three days straight was finally starting to wear off. Exhaustion was etched into every line of his face, making him look far older than he was.

"Do you need to borrow my pod?" Kitya asked as they watched their older brother fight sleep and lose, gently tapping his elbow with her fingers.

"No, dear one, I'll just rest in your personal quarters if that's alright. You know me, once I'm asleep not even Oridis' singing can wake me." He smiled wanly, shadows flickering in his eyes.

"Of course," Kitya nodded, their personal quarters were open to anyone if need be, but _especially_ for their brothers.

"Then wake me when Jossa gets here, if you can."

"I'll just have Fenras set off the red alert sirens if I can't," they teased.

"Heh," Ramiel chuckled lightly as he remembered the time Kitya had needed to use that very threat, "That _was_ an interesting way to wake up."

"I hadn't even known there were so many ways to curse in Orokin back then."

"That's because you were too young to learn them," he replied, tugging on a strand of hair sticking up on their head before heading off to look at Kitya's codex, curious about what research they were working on and pleased that they had been distracted enough from any threat of bad news for the time being.

Kitya watched as the strange Warframe followed Aman Sul into their personal quarters before trotting after Ramiel back to their codex. They noticed he had hit a locked set of entries and frowned in annoyance.

"Please tell me you aren't trying to hack into my personal files, big brother."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pull up your diary," he closed out the files and brought back the main screen, "I assumed the last file you worked on was research."

They grabbed some dried maprico from a jar they kept on the console, offering a piece to Ramiel, "Not everything I do is research you know, Mother did recommend I keep a dream log."

Ramiel did his best to keep his face impassive as he took the fruit, "Of course. To help you sort through your memories, right?"

Kitya nodded as they sucked on the dried fruit for a moment before pulling up some files. Up popped an image of a teralyst plodding over the plains along with some audio files. "Lately, I've been trying to filter Eidolon roars through different frequencies. Did you know the sound reaches infrasonic levels that we would never be able to hear? It's possible that they may be able to communicate long distance with the Vomvalysts using the roars." They stuck the maprico back in their mouth, eating it properly this time, "all of this has to do with my research on Sentient communication, but an Eidolon isn't your regular Sentient, it's just a collective of ghost fragments. It is quite possible my theories, while sound for an Eidolon, may not work the same on the real thing."

"You've become quite invested in this, I can tell," Ramiel was pleased that his little sister had moved their focus off of Alad V. Maybe they were finally starting to move past the nightmares. This past year especially had seen Kitya becoming more involved with the world, going so far as being considered family amongst the Vent Kids of Fortuna and participating in hunts for the Quills.

"Of course," they said with a determined look on their face, "The Eidolons are a nuisance that need to be eliminated. They threaten the livelihood of the Ostron and those in the surrounding regions. They're nothing more than fragmented ghosts killing everything they come across."

They chatted for a few hours on their different research subjects; Kitya, sharing their hypothesis that infrasound was being released with Eidolon shockwaves to alert surrounding Vomvalysts to their distress, wanted to see if a Banshee could imitate the signal. Ramiel being Warlord of Silver Elysium, a Tenno clan focused on research, promised to make it happen. He stayed off the subject of even attempting to convince the younger Tenno to join, they had made it very clear on numerous occasions that they had no interest in clans.

Kitya and Ramiel continued their discussion for hours, only stopping for food at the insistence of Fenras before returning to their respective work. Kitya, at one point, switched gears to pull their newest k-drive out of their arsenal to show off. It was in the midst of this that Fenras interrupted;

"Kitya, Jossa has arrived and is docked in the bay."

A stocky teen entered the main section of the orbiter, his eyes glowing yellow against the mask like void scars that surrounded them. He pulled down his respirator and gave a friendly greeting in the language that he and Kitya had shared since childhood;

_"Pipitjy, Pipp'pe Yiypet."_

Kitya responded in kind, happy to speak traditional Corpus greetings instead of some sort of confusing fake security call or an insult for a change, _"jepp sep T'topket."_

Jossa switched back to Orokin to address Ramiel, "Made it here as soon a I could. What's going on?"

Ramiel looked up from the workings of Kitya's K-drive and nodded solemnly, "Glad you could make it such short notice Jossa, we'll all talk after we wake up Sul."

The three headed down to wake Sul. Said Tenno was found snoring loudly in the middle of a massive floof pile, Lumina the kubrow had decided to join him and was spread out upside down, also snoring. Umbra stood guard along the side wall, hand resting on his nikana.

"Wow," Jossa expressed in deadpan awe, "I always forget exactly how big your kubrow is. I think she's close in size to my charger."

Kitya let out a low whistle, Lumina perked up and flipped herself over before leaping to her master's side. Sul let out a loud groan from being used as a launchpad and slowly emerged from the pile, blinking and rubbing his eyes.

"Jossa here?" He asked with a yawn.

Jossa proceeded to chuck a condroc floof at his head, striking him square in the face, "I'm here."

Sul shook himself off and stood up, stretching to shake the kinks out of his spine, "Right, meet me back in the hangar, I need to…retrieve something."

They all followed to the hangar where Sul quickly returned to his landing craft.

Kitya had expected whatever Sul retrieved from his craft to portend terrible news, like Alad V being seen alive once again (since that seemed to be an aggravating constant) but they _never_ expected to see Lotus' helmet cradled gently in Sul's arms when he returned. They felt their whole world start to crumble.

"W-what…?"

"She's gone Kitya," Ramiel said firmly, though his eyes were soft and sad, "She went with Ballas willingly, Sul saw it for himself in a vision."

"She left her command pod, took his hand, and dropped her helmet before leaving Lua with him. I…heartbreak is the only word I can think of." The look in Sul's eyes as he described what he saw held a look of utmost loss and betrayal, his fingers gliding over the eminently familiar symbol on the helmet.

"Ballas… he's dead…" the man couldn't still be alive, there was no way that was possible, "and she would never willingly go with him." But there was a nagging piece of doubt in the back of their mind, what was Natah to Ballas anyway?

"Well she did…" A grin, taut and more grimace than any sort of joy stretched his lips, "Umbra and I stabbed the bastard through the chest, but…_she_ rescued him in her true form…a Sentient."

"Natah…" Kitya crumpled to the floor, "That's not possible…" They couldn't bring themselves to believe it, their memories of the man who had helped execute their second mother were foggy but held a darkness to them. Their current mother would never… but what about the time with Alad V's proxy on Uranus?

"I'm sorry Kitya but we've been used and betrayed, The Lotus is a Sentient." Ramiel put a hand on Kitya's shoulder in comfort, unaware of the raging internal turmoil the young one was currently experiencing.

"Our mother would never betray us!" The sudden void blast launched him into the orbiter wall, Jossa and Aman Sul managed to shield themselves from the brunt of the blast, their innate Unairu shields having kicked in to deflect. The Excalibur leapt into action with a chilling roar, pinning the enraged Tenno to the ground.

"KITYA!" Fenras cried out in alarm, sensing the sudden discharge of void energy, "what are you doing to my operator?!"

As Jossa moved to defend his little sister with a void attack Sul grabbed his readied arm. "Hold on a moment, Umbra, be gentle. Kitya can't always control their abilities, they didn't mean to lash out."

Ramiel peeled himself off of the wall rubbing his head, sparks crackling along his spine. "I'll be fine, it wasn't a planned attack, it was an accident." His head was spinning slightly but the effects of their void blast were much milder to a fellow Tenno.

The Excalibur eased up on their hold only for Kitya to start thrashing violently until they managed to wriggle free and dash out of reach behind Jossa. Said Tenno steadied the smaller child with a hand on their shoulder, effectively using his body as a shield in case of a second attack.

"Mother told Teshin that Natah was no more, she is only our mother, The Lotus now."

The truth dawned on Ramiel, along with a sinking suspicion, "...Kitya, did you know she was a Sentient? How long have you known?"

Kitya grabbed hold of Jossa's suit, clinging to him suddenly, the older Tenno boy let out a grunt of surprise but let them press against his larger frame, "before we woke everyone from the second dream. It was part of the reason we were woken up," they turned their gaze to the suddenly interesting orbiter floor, "Hunhow had compromised Mother's security and Lua was no longer safe. With us scattered throughout the system in our cloaked orbiters we couldn't be tracked through her."

"And you didn't think that maybe, just maybe, this was important information to give out?!" Ramiel hissed.

"Ram," Sul rubbed at the implant below his eye tiredly, "Kitya was probably ordered to stay silent."

Kitya nodded in confirmation, "Everyone involved with the incident, everyone who knew The Lotus' true identity, was ordered to secrecy on the matter." They began to pluck at a stray thread on Jossa's sleeve while continuing to avoid everyone's eyes. "What she was in the past wasn't important at the time, and…" they let out a long sigh, "I was more focused on my research to block Hunhow permanently from her mind than I was on possible future issues."

"...Do you have any more information on her?" Ramiel asked after a moment, trying to calm himself and repress the rising voltage sparking across his shoulders; Kitya wasn't completely at fault here.

They nodded still clinging to Jossa, "It's attached to the research we were discussing earlier. Eidolons are the easiest Sentient type to work with since they aren't controlled by Hunhow or any living Sentient connected to him. She wouldn't provide me with any drones of her own to test my theories on either. The access password is '_natahiysopket'._"

They dropped their grip on Jossa, and gathered the helmet from Sul, who surprisingly let them take it, "Please download what you need to and leave." Kitya proceeded to lock themselves into their personal quarters. Their brothers watched the small Tenno go with mixed emotions writ large across their faces, though predominantly they were concerned for their sibling's emotional state.

The first one at the console, Jossa entered the password and opened the file. "Now, how is your Old Corpus?"

"There's a difference?" Asked Sul.

Jossa shook his head and indicated the Corpus text that made up the unlocked pages. "I can tell you this is not Kitya's dream diary since the password to that is much simpler."

Ramiel gave Jossa a questioning look, Jossa just shrugged, "I thought I was logging into a program." He clicked on a link and a hand drawn diagram of an unknown Sentient type popped up, "is this what Natah looked like Sul?"

"Roughly, Ramiel has the Vitruvian files though."

"Hmm… I'm probably going to need to translate this to Orokin for the two of you, the entire numeric system is in binary so that shouldn't be too much of a problem, but some of the context may be lost on you otherwise."

"Would you like me to send copies of the files to your personal consoles?" Asked Fenras, finally making himself known, "I should be able to send translated copies as well, my Operator is fluent in Old Corpus, in fact it was programmed into me when we were paired."

"That would be appreciated Fenras." Ramiel tapped his fingers against the console as he attempted to make out what he could of the text. Most Tenno had learned the basics of Corpus language as it was currently, but only the Tenno that had been crew children were absolutely fluent. For those of them that were Orokin, like Ramiel, translation would speed up the process of deciphering the research.

"Do you think this may help with the vitruvian Ram?" Sul didn't want to sound too eager but unlocking the secrets behind those files could be revolutionary.

"Maybe for the parts about Sentients, Kitya might have discovered something that could finally wipe them out and don't even know it yet." The tapping on the console became more frantic, "I'm going to have to completely dissect these files before I know for certain though. Maybe we can develop some sort of sonic weapon that disrupts their functions."

"Do you think this is going to be like the Old War?" Asked Jossa, concern evident in his voice.

"Absolutely," affirmed Ramiel as he tried to make out what he could of the Corpus text, "especially now that they have reclaimed their AWOL agent. I give them a month at most before they make their first move, though Sentients are ageless they've been waiting centuries to claim the system as their own. Hunhow is awake, I'm sure he's found a way to call the others by now."

"It did take them three years to make this move though, are you certain they'll move that fast?" Sul scratched at the somatic implant on his cheek, "they don't have to move right away if they don't want to."

"But they know we'll be preparing for them Sul, they're not going to give us time for that." Ramiel drummed his fingers urgently across the console again, "I need to get this information back to the dojo and start developing theories right away. I say it's time to leave. Fenras have you transmitted the files?"

"Yes Ramiel, though I wish your cephalon was less rude." Fenras sounded slightly perturbed, no doubt Ordis had said something.

Ramiel moved away from the console, ignoring the comment on Ordis' rudeness as he addressed the other two boys. "Alright, so I'm going to make my way to the dojo and get to work on this research."

"What about letting everyone know what's going on? We can't leave everyone in the dark." Jossa's voice held slightly more concern than anyone expected him to ever voice out loud. It seemed even he had been shaken by this.

Ramiel set a hand soothingly on the younger teen's shoulder. "I'll take care of that once I get back to my orbiter."

Sul nodded in agreement, "I'll meet you at the dojo then?"

"Please do."

Jossa removed himself from Ramiel's contact. "I'll be staying near Mercury if anyone needs me, it lets me keep an eye on Kitya while still allowing me to do my work."

Kitya lay curled up on the couch in their personal quarters, crying at last. They were alone, truly alone, they had lost their newest mother. They clutched the cold helmet closer to themself, the pain of possible abandonment even worse than the pain of death. First Mama, Papa, Auntie, and Rell, then Margulis, then Rell again, and now Mother had left…

"Fenras, please play a lullaby…"

"Of course Little One." The soft sounds of The Lotus, mimicking Margulis, singing soon drifted through the ship lulling the young Tenno into an uneasy sleep.

Aman Sul went to his foundry first upon returning to his orbiter. He collected the finished komi board and pieces before moving on to his personal quarters, passing the still form of his beloved Rhino Prime. He stopped at the plinth displaying The Lotus' actual helmet, his fingers tracing the familiar symbol. "Sorry, Kitya," he sighed, "but she was my mother, too."

He had forged a basic copy that he had brought to Kitya since he knew they would take it, and while he didn't begrudge them their comfort, they weren't the only one who loved the Lotus dearly. He sighed once more before rounding the corner to set down the board and stones on his low table, a pot of tea and softly steaming cup next to. Then, he called Umbra. The frame entered and looked to him expectantly, hand on sword, until he noticed the game set out and then he tilted his head to the side in question.

"I know you don't have the best memories of this game," he said softly, resisting the urge to shudder as he recalled being trapped on a bed, Ballas seated behind a board. "I was hoping to make new, better memories together. What do you say?"

Umbra was still for a moment, but eventually knelt down and placed the first piece before looking to Sul expectantly. Sul smiled, sipped his tea and placed his own piece. The game was underway.

Ramiel entered the coordinates for his dojo with a few quick taps at the navigation interface before walking over to his codex console to start perusing the data Kitya had provided. Fenras' translation work was excellent, the data was configured in such a way as to be easily read and comprehended.

As he worked, he reached a conclusion. "Ordis."

"Yes, Operator?"

"The message we prepared… Start broadcasting it on all Tenno channels."

"...Are you sure that's wise, Ramiel? Interception is a possibility with such a large burst of activity over our communication channels, and there is the risk of mass panic to consider as well." The cephalon's voice was filled with hesitation and concern.

Ramiel leaned over the console, bracing himself on his hands and closed his eyes as he considered it once more. After a few minutes, "Yes, Ordis. I'm certain. I know there's risk involved but they have a right to know, as soon as possible. Send it."

With a whir, the communications suite spooled up in preparation. "Yes, Ramiel."

"To all Operators, this is Cephalon Ordis sending out an alert;" The cephalon's voice was deceptively calm, "The Lotus has abandoned her post. For the past few days all missions have been synthesized through Cephalon Cordylon while operators Ramiel and Aman Sul attempted to find her. Unfortunately, The Lotus is -A _Fi__**lt**_H_y_ TRaITor- no longer our leader and can be considered a hostile force. More information will be provided as it becomes available." Ordis went silent for a moment before adding his own personal message, "We will get through this Operators. You are not alone, you have each other and… your cephalons."

Jossa leaned back on his console perch as he watched the channels flare up one hand scratching between the chitin plates of his giant charger, Koh, "And now the panic begins…" the charger clicked its jaws in contentment and leaned into his hand. "I shouldn't have left my little sister alone."

"Nonsense Jossa," chimed the smooth feminine voice of his Cephalon, "the child requested you leave and we must respect their wishes."

"But they're just a kid still Bori, we all feel some abandonment right now but-"

Bori cut him off, "Fenras will keep Kityani safe like he always has, there is no need to concern yourself. We are only a single rail jump away if anything comes up as well. Give the child their space."

"Alright Bori."

Ordis' message rang out through a sleeping dojo. Soon after, a console flared to life before quickly overloading with the amount of data it had to process and record. Its secondary backup quickly salvaged the situation, but also sent out an alert to the controller cephalon.

"Revan!"

"I heard it Zaffir, flag any related messages sent through unsecured lines," the dark Tenno drew a robe over himself disturbing the kavat that had chosen it as her sleeping spot.

"The Lotus-"

"Is gone, I heard," he made his way out of his quarters and into the hall. Already, a small mass of Tenno waited for instruction and reassurance. One younger girl rushed at him, clinging to him in tears, he wrapped his scarred right arm around her awkwardly.

"No one is to contact anyone using unsecured channels," he ordered with narrowed golden eyes, "those of you who wish to help me, please begin monitoring enemy channels, eliminate any non-ally who knows too much." He caught one of his more bloodthirsty Tenno smirking, "yes Gram, kill as needed, take your usual squad." Said Tenno didn't need to be told twice, fading back into the shadows.

"Someone find Mel, have her meet me at command when she's available. I need her skill at spreading false info."

"But Revan!" Cried one of the older girls, "What about The Lotus? Is she really gone?!"

"It is true, but it doesn't matter! We carry on as if nothing has changed!" He looked to the Tenno gathered in front of him, "We are Tenno, and we are the Blood Kavats! We slip into enemy territory unknown and strike from the shadows. We listen when they don't see us and twist their knowledge against them. And we are independent and autonomous, following no one but those we choose to be loyal to."

"We discard those that prove disloyal, and move on…" growled one of the older boys, "So we forget our old master, for no one is our master. We are loyal only to the Tenno, the clan, and the alliance."

Other Tenno murmured their agreements before beginning to disperse. Some leading sobbing younger clanmates back to the barracks, others looking ready for battle. The girl at his side loosened her grip before slipping out from under his arm and joining a small group headed back to the barracks.

"I guess I won't be sleeping any time in the near future…" Revan let out a sigh before beginning his journey to communications.

**Corpus Translations**

I adjusted the cypher slightly to make it easier to read as a language so I have added apostrophes to create pauses in words to break up starting double consonants and triple consonants. Corpus written in the actual language won't be a very common occurrence though just in certain situations like the one above.

**Pipitjy, Pipp'pe Yiypet**

"Tidings, Little Sister"

**Jepp sep T'topket**

"Well met Brother"


End file.
